by Tracey E. Bennett, Queen of Conversation
Does your first impression measure up at home? When your loved ones step in the door, do you stop what you’re doing and greet them? Do you make them feel important and valued?
Let’s take a hint from (more…)
by Tracey E. Bennett
Do first impressions count in Olympic ice dancing? Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won my heart from the get-go. Before the first note of their music, even before they positioned their skates on the ice, my heart melted. I awarded them the gold.
Why?
Did you SEE the way he looked at her? Such appreciation, such love! And they’re not even dating. Were his adoring looks part of the performance? Who knows. Who cares? The judges gave them gold, too. Yeah, I know: they earned it with every twirl and lift. But it all got launched with a great first impression.
Here’s my Olympic-sized tip of the day:
Do you realize you’re making a first impression every day? Over and over? Yes, even with people who know you. Friends are always checking you out. Are they likely to say, "You look dazzling today!" or "Did you spill your coffee fix?"
And you never know when that stranger you bump today — "Oops! Sorry!" — will become the client who interviews you for a job tomorrow.
Every brick-and-mortar business is making first impressions too, starting at the curb. <Reader alert! Pet peeve coming.> What will you find outside my gym? Power bar wrappers. Plastic water bottles. Litter. Ugh. Faster than you can say "deep knee bend," the staff could clean that up.
When I owned the Mango House Bed and Breakfast, I cleaned all the way across the street. My reward was finding coins, a pint of rum and 5 music CDs. I was proud to have the cleanest cul de sac in Honolulu.
I won’t preach. Now that you know to pay attention to your first impressions, you know what to do.
============
What did you think about the Russians’ aboriginal costumes? Got a story about good or crummy first impressions? Leave me a comment.
 |
Here are some New Year’s conversation questions to start conversations and keep them going.
If you’re staying home and keeping the dog company, it’s the perfect time to assess where you’ve been and to chart your course for the new year. |
Here’s a conversation topic in keeping with Mother’s Day:
Can teen mother Bristol Palin (whose mom is governor of Alaska), teach abstinence?
The folks who brought you National Teen Pregnancy Awareness Day thought so because they made Bristol their poster child, er, poster mom. She said, "Regardless of what I did personally, I just think that abstinence is the only way you can effectively, 100 percent foolproof way, you can prevent pregnancy."
My mom had another foolproof way. (more…)
Most females are capable of being moms, but it takes something special to adopt another’s brood. Lily’s a doggone great mom. Here she is in action:
Happy Mother’s Day!
She’s frumpy. She’s spinsterish. She’s 47 and never been kissed.
And when she walked on the stage of Britain’s Got Talent show, Simon Cowell smirked. So did the audience. When she said, "I want to sing like [Broadway star] Elaine Paige," you could practically hear everybody thinking, "Fat, frumpy chance, Sister!" (more…)
After mailing my taxes, I put my iPod on shuffle mode. Out of 9,000 songs it played one by Celine Dion:
"Rain, Tax (It’s Inevitable)."
Honest, that’s the song’s real name.
Have you experienced any timely musical messages from the universe?
Here’s a situation that’s right up my imaginary alley. What if you and I were invited to hobnob with Britain’s shining female stars and the first ladies of several countries? What if they included Harry Potter’s creator and the first lady of the United States? What could we talk about?
That’s the enviable and intimidating situation Dame Kelly Holmes found herself in this week. As I began reading her story, I thought "Who’s Dame Kelly?" (more…)
April 1, 1946, Lanikai, Hawaii
Janie Powlison was doing the dishes at Hilltop House, looking out on Kailua Bay. She’d never seen the tide so low. All the water was gone, and the coral heads were showing. "Dad! Something is happening to Kailua Bay!" Her father, Skipper, looked and said, "I’ve never seen a tidal wave, but I think we’re going to have one."
Skipper called several radio stations who all told him the same thing: (more…)
